Greetings Readers and Fellow Convention Fans!

We just had our second annual Dyersburg Comic and Pop Culture Convention, and it was another successful event! I was running my FLGS’s booth at the convention, as well as doing demos for Dice Masters, HeroClix, and board games. Our local convention is a smaller convention, but it has a huge heart! We had an increase in attendance, more cosplayers, more vendors, bigger guests, and lots more fun this year! I was so busy, I didn’t get a chance to meet all the vendors or do the interviews I wanted to do. I didn’t even get all the pictures I wanted. I promise to do better next year!

Cosplay

The cosplay contest saw more entries than last year, and also bigger cosplays! I wish I could have gotten pictures of everyone, but I did manage to snap a few. You can see them in the slideshow below.

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Artists

We had lots of returning artists, like John Lucas, Kelly Williams, and Larry Cathey of Heycat Comics. Kelly Williams did this amazing commission for me of The Shadow and Doctor Strange! I would absolutely love to see a team-up series with The Shadow and Doctor Strange done by Kelly Williams. I’m looking at you, Marvel and Dynamite!

There was a new guest artist this year, Mike Norton. His current work can be seen in the pages of the DC comic, Mystik U. Mike Norton is the co-creator of Revival and also the creator of Battlepug, which has five volumes. Mr. Norton was a pleasure to talk to and I’m super excited to have his signature on two of my Mystik U issues. The third and final issue is due out soon, so I’ll have to catch him at another convention to get that last signature!

There were lots of new vendors and artists and I sincerely regret that I can’t feature all of them, but I was able to stop by two vendors that were new this year and get some info on their work.

D Whitaker Ink

This man has some really cool and unique art. He spray paints all of his work! I regret missing all the demos he did Saturday, but I was able to catch a glimpse through the window while doing some demos of my own at the gaming tables. He’s very entertaining to watch. You can see a sample of his work in the slideshow below.

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You can find D Whitaker on Facebook at D Whitaker Ink and on Instagram at derek.whitaker.31 and I highly recommend that everyone go follow his pages! He also has much better pictures of his art on his pages than the ones I took from my video.

Oller’s Odditties

This artist has a variety of items that are super cool to see in person. Pictures do not do these items justice, and my pictures from my video are not even close to showing how cool these items are. You can see some of the awesome horror dolls below, but he has framed artwork and prop weapons as well. Be sure to check out Oller’s Odditties on Facebook!

Conclusion

I wish I had been able to get all of the content I wanted, but being a vendor at the convention with demo tables too will keep anyone busy! I promise to do a better job of covering this convention next year. I’ve already heard that attendance was up from last year and every vendor I had a chance to speak with said that they had a good time. I heard lots of cosplayers remarking on how polite the other attendees were when asking for pictures and interacting with them. That’s always a good thing to hear, especially when other conventions have had so many issues with disrespectful con-goers being inappropriate with cosplayers. I enjoy running the booth for my FLGS because I have a chance to meet so many different people. I spoke to an attendee that drove from over seven hours away to come see some of the guests at our convention. That is a big deal for a convention of this size and only in its second year!

I can’t wait to see how much the convention grows next year! I hope that all the attendees, vendors, and guests had a good time and enjoyed their visit to Dyersburg. If you weren’t here this year, you missed out! Better start planning for next year!

Thanks for reading! Remember, you can follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for Dice Masters, HeroClix, Board Games, and various other awesome content!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Agent Venom: Losing Control from the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy set.

Ruling – Call Out Ability

“When a character die with Call Out attacks, you target an opposing character die. The targeted die can only legally block the attacking die that used Call Out on it, and no other die can legally blocked the die that used Call Out. If the die that used Call Out cannot legally be blocked for any reason (an effect made it unblockable, two different dice chose the same target for their Call Out, the die targeted with Call Out was KO’d, etc.) then the effect of Call Out is cancelled.”

The Call Out ability will trigger automatically when the die with Call Out attacks. This ability is not optional because it does not say you ‘may’ target an opposing character die. Each die with Call Out will trigger the Call Out ability when it attacks, even if the dice are the same character. For example, I attack with an Agent Venom die and that die’s Call Out ability triggers. I attack with a second Agent Venom die and Call Out triggers again. Each die should target a different opposing die, or the effects will be cancelled.

Call Out is an ability that targets. If a character is not eligible to be targeted, you cannot target it for Call Out. For example, Raven: Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos! says “While Raven is active, your Mask Type and Teen Titan affiliated characters cannot be targeted by your opponents.” If my opponent has a Mask type character, a Sidekick, and Raven active, I cannot use the Call Out ability on any of their characters, except for the Sidekick die.

When you use Call Out on an opposing character die, the die you targeted is the only die that can block the character that used Call Out on it. None of the remaining opposing character dice can block the die that used Call Out. The die that is targeted for a Call Out ability can’t block any other attackers on that turn. For example, if I use Agent Venom’s Call Out on a Sidekick die, that is the only die that can block Agent Venom. Even if my opponent has four other character dice in the Field Zone, only that one Sidekick die that Agent Venom targeted can block him. And that same Sidekick die can’t block any of my other attacking dice.

A character die that’s been targeted by Call Out is not required to block, but if it does block, it can only block the die that targeted it with Call Out.

If the die that used Call Out is unblockable, the Call Out ability is cancelled and the die that was targeted for the Call Out ability can then choose to block a different attacking character die.

If the die that was targeted by Call Out is KO’d or removed before blockers are assigned, the effect is cancelled and the die that used Call Out can be blocked by other character dice that turn. For example, if I use Agent Venom’s Call Out to target a Sidekick die, but another character’s When Attacks ability deals damage to the Sidekick and KO’s it, my Agent Venom’s Call Out is cancelled and he can be blocked by other character dice as normal this turn.

If two dice use Call Out on the same opposing die, the effect of Call Out is cancelled and the opposing dice can choose to block as normal.

Ruling – Ability

Agent Venom has an additional effect on his card that says he can’t be KO’d the turn he uses Call Out, but only if he targets a Villain with his Call Out ability.

The Villain affiliation has two different affiliation icons. One is a red Hydra logo, commonly found in Marvel sets. The other is a stylized V, commonly found in DC sets and the TMNT sets. There have been Marvel sets that featured the V on their Villain cards.

Both of these symbols have the exact same meaning and are interchangeable. If a card has the Hydra icon in the text box, like Agent Venom, it applies to characters with the V icon as well.

If Agent Venom uses Call Out to target a Villain die, that die that used Call Out can’t be KO’d by combat damage, ability damage, or any other effect that says “KO”. The targeted die must have the Villain affiliation at the time it’s targeted. If the die gains the Villain affiliation later in the same turn, Agent Venom can still be KO’d because the targeted die was not a Villain at the time it was targeted. For example, when Agent Venom attacks, he targets a Sidekick die with Call Out. Blockers are assigned and then during the Actions and Globals portion of the Attack Step, I use a Global to give that same Sidekick the Villain affiliation. Agent Venom can still be KO’d this turn, because the Sidekick was not a Villain at the time Agent Venom targeted it with Call Out.

If Agent Venom’s Call Out effect is cancelled, he still gets the benefit of his second ability, as long as the die he targeted was a Villain. His ability only requires that he target a Villain with Call Out and not that the Call Out effect remains on the targeted die. For example, I attack with two Agent Venom dice. The first Agent Venom targets an opposing Villain die. The second Agent Venom die targets the same opposing Villain die. Both Call Out abilities are cancelled and both Agent Venom dice can be blocked by any opposing character die, but neither Agent Venom die can be KO’d this turn because they each targeted a Villain with their Call Out ability.

If the Villain that was targeted by Agent Venom’s Call Out blocks, Agent Venom will deal his attack value in combat damage to the blocker. He will also take damage from the Villain, but regardless of how much damage he has accumulated, he won’t be KO’d.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Agent Venom is a Mask type character card.
~ He has the Guardians of the Galaxy affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Common and is #2 of 124.

Official Sources

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Strategy and Opinion

I had a chance to use this card in our draft, but because there were so few Villains being played, I never used his second ability. I think he could possibly have a spot on a few teams out there in the casual scene. I’m not sure just how good he’ll be in competitive metas though. His stats are good and his purchase cost is okay, but I’m not sure Villains are that much of a nuisance yet to bring something like this. They reused the Civil War Venom die, which I find very amusing. Agent Venom seems to get the Venom hand-me-downs as far as dice icons go.

I really like this card for a casual Guardians team. My old GotG team had trouble against Villains, but with an ability like this, it helps to clear out some of those more troublesome Villains without risking the loss of one of your pieces. If there were more Villains in the GotG set, this guy would be a bomb in drafts!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Batarang: What Goes Around Comes Around from the DC Batman set.

Ruling – Ability

When you use this action die, you deal three damage to one target Villain character die. If you use a second Batarang die, you can choose to target the same die again if it’s still active in the Field Zone, or you can choose a new Villain to target.

You can target opposing Villains or your own Villains with Batarang action dice.

A Sidekick die or character die that does not have a printed Villain affiliation on their card can be legal targets if they have been given the Villain affiliation through a game effect. For example: Superman is not a Villain. I can pay a Mask energy and a Fist energy for the Global on the Monument to Evil: Basic Action Card, and target Superman so he gains the Villain affiliation. This makes him a legal target for Batarang.

A character with a printed Villain affiliation can have the Villain affiliation removed by a card effect and no longer be a legal target for Batarang. Removing the Villain affiliation will not affect Batarang dice that have been used prior to the removal of the affiliation. For example: My Joker (Villain), with a defense of six, has been hit with a Batarang for three damage. In the same turn, I can remove his affiliation with Ra’s al Ghul‘s Global and he will still have three damage on him until the Clean Up Step. He can no longer be targeted by Batarang dice this turn, unless he regains the Villain affiliation.

What is considered ‘using’ an Action Die?
~ When you have a non-Continuous action die showing an action face in your Reserve Pool and you use it for it’s effect, moving it Out of Play, that is considered using it.
~ When you have a Continuous action die showing an action face in your Reserve Pool, using it means putting it into the Field Zone. When you activate a Continuous action die for it’s effect, that is not the same as using the action die because the die was used by fielding it.
~ Abilities that say ‘use an action die’ or ‘use the effect of an action die’ are all considered to be using an action die.

Ruling – Boomerang Keyword

Boomerang: Action dice with boomerang are re-rolled after they’re used. If they reveal an action face, add them to your Prep Area.

After you roll the action die, if it shows an action face (non-energy face), you get to add it to your Prep Area. If it shows an energy face, the die will move Out of Play as normal. The image below shows where you can find the different faces on the Die Face Reference part of the card.

Boomerang is mandatory. If you use an Action Die with Boomerang, you must reroll it.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Batarang is a Bolt type non-Basic Action card.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #4 of 124.

Batarang is a special Action called a non-Basic Action. You place this card in a character slot on your team. Your opponent can not purchase your non-Basic Action dice.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Using Batarang during the Main Step and the Attack Step.

Game State~ I have two Batarang dice showing action faces in my Reserve Pool. I have a level three Huntress (4A/3D) die and a level three Hawkgirl (4A/4D) die in the Field Zone.
~ My opponent has a level three Killer Croc (7A/7D) die in the Field Zone.
~ It is currently during my Main Step.(Main Step)~ I use one of my Batarang dice, targeting my Huntress die. Huntress takes three damage, KO’ing her and sending her to my Prep Area. I must use the Boomerang ability on my Batarang die, rerolling Batarang. It lands on an energy face and is placed Out of Play.
~ I pass priority to my opponent and they choose to not use any Globals, passing priority back to me.
~ We now move into the Attack Step – or – Skip the Attack Step and go straight to Clean Up. I decide that I want to attack, so we move into the Attack Step.(Attack Step – Assign Attackers)
~ I assign my Hawkgirl to attack, moving her into the Attack Zone.(Attack Step – Assign Blockers)
~ My opponent assigns their Killer Croc to block Hawkgirl, moving Killer Croc into the Attack Zone and placing him in front of Hawkgirl.(Attack Step – Actions and Globals)
~ I use my second Batarang die and target Killer Croc. Killer Croc takes three damage and since it wasn’t enough to KO him, he remains in the Attack Zone blocking Hawkgirl. I must use the Boomerang ability on my Batarang die, rerolling Batarang. It lands on an action face and is added in my Prep Area.(Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage)
~ Hawkgirl deals her four attack to Killer Croc’s seven defense, but he already has three damage on him. This will be enough to KO him. Killer Croc deals his seven attack to Hawkgirl’s four defense, which is enough to KO her. They will both go their respective Prep Areas during Clean Up.(Clean Up Step)
~ Character dice that were KO’d by combat damage during the Attack Step are now placed in the Prep Area. Killer Croc is placed in my opponent’s Prep Area and Hawkgirl is placed in my Prep Area.
~ Characters blocked, but not KO’d are removed from the Attack Zone, but stay in the Field Zone. The Attack Zone is part of the Field Zone, but only attacking and blocking characters can be in the Attack Zone.
~ All effects end unless otherwise specified (like a While Active or ‘End of Turn’ ability).
~ All damage is cleared.
~ End of turn abilities will resolve.
~ My turn is now over and my opponent’s turn will begin.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
You can find a relevant ruling about similar text for using an action die, here.
You can find a relevant ruling about Continuous actions and abilities, here.
You can find a relevant ruling about While Active text being missing from the card, here.

Basic Information

Opinion and Strategy

I think Boomerang is a really neat ability, but I have yet to play it. I’ve seen plenty of Unstable Miracle teams floating around, but I want to use a die that already has Boomerang, like Batarang. I’ll have to use Batarang if I want to play with Boomerang because it’s the only action card with the Keyword and all three versions have Boomerang.

I am definitely looking forward to adding this to my “FREEZE!” team. While useful against opposing Villains, I think it’ll be much more of an asset when it comes to KO’ing your own Villains that have When Fielded abilities. Mr. Freeze: Dr. Victor Fries has a coolWhen Fielded ability that puts Stun Tokens on your opponent’s character cards. Sometimes, it’s hard to get those type of character dice back into your Prep Area to reuse quickly. Batarang definitely provides a viable option that your opponent won’t have access to, like Unstable Canister. Mr. Freeze has a defense line of 2/3/4, making him a prime target for Batarang. The only level that would give you trouble is level three.

Some other characters that I would love to pair this Batarang with are Huntress: No Rest for the Wicked and Firefly: Ted Carson. I absolutely love the idea of using Huntress to potentially KO their dudes and then field Firefly to blast them for some damage. Batarang would help cycle those two in the early game because they’re both Villains and make for great targets for Batarang.

And if blasting your own Villains into the Prep Area for next turn wasn’t good enough, Batarang has the potential to come back too, thanks to Boomerang!

I think all versions are great for casual level play and especially for drafting. I’m not sure it has what it takes to stand alone in the Modern Age competitive meta, but I’m holding out hope that someone finds a creative way to use this card.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

WizKids has released another complete box set for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! This set is called, Heroes in a Half Shell. If you purchase this box set, you will get the entire set, max dice for each character, and a bunch of other goodies!

This box can be played as a stand alone product, added with the previous TMNT Box Set, or mixed in with the vast library of Dice Masters cards to enhance any team for various formats. This box set is great for casual players and seasoned players alike. If you’d like to take a look at the previous TMNT Box Set, you can find my review here.

Rulebook

Both this rulebook and the one from the first box have the doubles start up rules in the back. The rulebook feels durable and looks really nice. It’s one I’d like to keep on me as my reference rulebook.

Keywords

There are several returning keywords in this set, but you won’t find any new ones.

WizKids has a comprehensive list of Keywords on their site. You can also find expanded descriptions for all the keywords on The Reserve Pool‘s site.

Affiliations

We don’t see any new affiliations, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle affiliation returns in this box set. The other affiliation you’ll find is one that crosses over almost all other IPs, Villain.

Characters

If you haven’t seen any or most of the 2012 animated series, but plan to watch it later – you may want to skip reading some of this. I discuss lots of things from that series which could be seen as spoilers.

April makes her second appearance in Dice Masters. This time, she looks a little different. We now have the 80s animated version and the 2012 animated series version of April. She’s a Shield character and all of her versions have a cost of two. She has the Ally keyword on all three cards and each card does something directly related to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle affiliation. Please take note – she does not carry the TMNT affiliation herself! No Mere Damsel is absolutely my favorite of all three because she’s easy to purchase and helps reduce the cost of your other TMNT characters. A cheap character with Turtle Power seems really good for any team built around the TMNT affiliation. I don’t think any version of this April will make it into the unlimited scene, and it’s not likely she’ll see Prime play either unless someone finds a super awesome TMNT team build.

Casey Jones is back again as a Fist character with a purchase cost of two and three. Penalty Box is pretty handy for gaining life, but life gain is not all that prevalent in unlimited or Prime. I think he may be a nice tech piece for someone that can’t decide what their eighth character should be and it’s great that he has a Global already built in that helps his ability. I don’t like either of his other cards in this box. Penalty Box is not a bad choice for playing in casual or limited type event. Casey Jones would be an easy addition to any team that needs a cheap character. Although he’s not a Villain affiliated character, he could still be added to a Villain team and wouldn’t necessarily break theme because he was a vigilante that wasn’t always a friend of the Turtles.

Donatello is my dude! All of Donnie’s versions cost five energy, and we see the return of Turtle Power to the Turtle cards on Notice Me!. I don’t think Turtle Power is especially useful on characters that cost more than three or four. Something I like about all four Turtles is that they all have a version that does something similar to Intellectually Inclined. When they attack, they can each deal two damage to target character die or opponent if you pay an energy that corresponds to their energy type. Donatello is a Bolt character, so when he attacks, you can pay a Bolt energy to deal the two damage. I like that they all have a similar ability like that. Intellectually Inclined is my favorite of the three. Technologic would only be useful in a limited format where you’re only using the TMNT box sets. I don’t think that any version of Donnie will make it into unlimited play, but it’s possible that Intellectually Inclined might find a rogue home in Prime.

Foot Ninjas are back! They are Bolt characters that all have the Ally keyword and all cost three energy. Shinobijutsu has the Swarm keyword as well, but it has the same issue as the other Swarm Foot Ninja from the first box set – max of three dice. I find Swarm to be much more effective when you have four or more dice for the card. Shinobijutsu also works with Shredder, so if you’re playing this guy in a limited setting, he may be fun. But then I saw Stick to the Shadows and fell in love with this card. I’m the type of player that loves Overcrush or direct damage, like the type of ability damage on Stick to the Shadows. The only trouble you might have is getting two or three of them active at the same time to attack with. I can see this version possibly making a splash in the Prime format, but not likely in unlimited. I don’t much care for the ability on Glass Jawed.

First newcomer card – Hamato Yoshi. Hamato Yoshi suffers from an identity crisis over the various canons for TMNT. In one canon, he was the man that owned Splinter. Splinter watched and mimicked his movements while he was practicing martial arts. Splinter mastered the martial arts from his cage. Splinter went on to become the mutated rat we all know and love. In another canon, Hamato Yoshi was the adversary of Oroko Saki (Shredder) and was followed by Saki to the US. Yoshi was later exposed to mutagen causing him to mutate into a rat-man because he was mostly in contact with rats since he was living in the sewer with them.

Now, as for card abilities, I don’t like any of them. None of these type of cards fit how I play. All of the versions are expensive Shield type characters, and even the Global on Shidoshi isn’t good enough to justify adding him to a team. If you’re looking at him for limited or casual play, I’d probably go with Shidoshi. He would help your other attackers get through and with his huge defense, he might just survive!

Karai is another new character to Dice Masters. She’s no stranger to fans of the comic and the 2012 animated series. Her card art comes from the 2012 series. She’s a four cost Fist character without an affiliation, and all of her versions do something in relation to Sidekicks. I really like Dark Lineage, because she could help slow the damage coming from Front Line teams. You have to keep her in the Field Zone though, which is not easy to do since Front Line typically runs Imprisoned (in unlimited) and they would snatch up any Karai threat. I could see her being really useful in Prime, casual, and limited. I’m not excited about Torn Between Two Worlds, but she could potentially eliminate a threatening Ally. I like anything that’s cheap to purchase and buffs my Sidekicks, like Uneasy Alliance. My favorite is definitely Dark Lineage, even though I like Uneasy Alliance a lot.

Leatherhead – the Cajun Gator that’s typically a villain in the TMNT universe, but becomes an anti-hero of sorts in the 2012 series canon. All the fun, conversational characters seem to cost the most… He’s also a new character to Dice Masters. He’s a five and six cost Shield character that does something with TMNT characters on all his versions. Of all of them, I like I Guarantee! the best, but none of them seem good for unlimited or even for Prime. In a limited format where you’re only playing with the TMNT boxes, I Guarantee! would definitely be my pick for a Villain team. He’s got some really beefy stats too and his fielding cost isn’t bad.

Leonardo is our next Turtle in the box. All of his versions are five cost Fist characters. Fearless Leader has Turtle Power, which like I mentioned before, I don’t like on a five cost character – even in limited. Multifolded Steel is kind of interesting, if you somehow found a way to use the TMNT affiliation effectively. Plight of the Eldest is by far the best of the three. He has that cool ‘burn’ type ability that you can pay a Fist energy to use when he attacks. Just like with Donnie, I don’t think Leo is gonna see any unlimited play, and possibly only a rogue status in Prime. As for casual and limited, I could totally see someone finding a use for one the Leo cards.

Metalhead makes his debut in the Dice Masters world. This character has a majorly distorted backstory. And like his backstory, his abilities are all over the place. Rogue Robot, purchase cost of five, gets an attack and defense buff for each other non-Metalhead TMNT affiliated character die – not character, but character die. This could potentially make him a monster of an attacker or defender. I’d say he’s probably my favorite of the three, but he’s not going to see any unlimited play and most likely not any Prime play either. His place to shine is limited and casual. Dissociative Identity works with other non-Metalhead TMNT character dice, making that die unblockable when he attacks. I don’t see him making it into unlimited or Prime either. Upgrading the Arsenal is probably the best candidate for Prime, but I doubt he’ll even make it to a rogue status. When he’s fielded, you can deal damage to a Villain die equal to his attack. It’s good, but not great. I still prefer Rogue Robot for fun stuff.

Here’s the party dude, Michelangelo! His five cost Turtle Power version on Booyakasha! is at the bottom of my list. Insatiable Appetite is the direct damage ability version, and since Mikey is a Mask character, this makes him very useful. Chuck and Chuck II: The Sequel has a very situational ability. There are ways to manipulate blockers and attackers to help ensure that situation happens, but it takes a lot to set up and use. Insatiable Appetite is my favorite and it looks like all those similar burn ability Turtles are going to my preferred versions. I don’t think any of Mikey’s cards will see any unlimited play and maybe only a rogue status in Prime, just like his brothers. For casual and limited, Insatiable Appetite is the way to go!

Rude dude Raphael is a five cost Shield character with the awesome ‘burn’ ability on Nightwatcher. He also has Turtle Power on Controlling His Temper, which is not exciting. Second Son could be useful in limited because he keeps your TMNT affiliated characters safe from being targeted by opposing action dice and Globals. I like Second Son a little more than Nightwatcher because his ability could be somewhat useful in a Prime format, depending on what TMNT affiliated character you can effectively use. As far as unlimited goes, there isn’t much that can break into the current meta unless it’s cheap and fast. I would love to give Second Son a try in casual and limited.

Speaking of cheap, Renet Tilley is only a three cost Bolt character with decent abilities for all her cards. This is her first appearance in the universe of Dice Masters. Now, Renet has been around for a long time, but most folks don’t have a clue who she is. She has a lot to do with time traveling, which already scores her some negative marks in my book (as a character outside of Dice Masters). I don’t like needless time travel and she was a careless Time Master in the 2012 series. She is a friend of the Turtles, but she does not have the TMNT affiliation on her cards. As far as her card abilities go, 79th Dimension of Null-Time is definitely my favorite. Being able to spin that Cold Gun over to a burst face is HUGE! She’s likely going to see play in both unlimited and Prime. Impeccable Timing has an interesting ability that I need to play around with before saying I like it. Apprentice Timestress is a lesser version of Kang: The Conqueror or Scarlet Witch: Controls Probability. I can see all of her versions finding homes in limited and casual play, but 79th Dimension will most likely make it into unlimited and almost certainly into Prime. As a side note, the t on the end of her first name is not silent.

Shredder is a huge iconic Villain in the TMNT universe, so his cards deserve to be huge in purchase cost and have outrageous abilities that you’ll probably never get to go off. Surprisingly, Shredder has two versions that only cost six to buy. I know, it’s still a six cost character, but I expected him to be seven and eight costs. Scarred is interesting, but most likely not as useful as he could be since he costs six and then you need to Field him. His monstrous eight cost version, False Bushido, is not worth the effort it takes to get that ability to go off. Dining on Turtle Soup! is easily my favorite of the three. There are Globals that can force a character to attack, or better yet, force multiple characters to block and only attack with Shredder. That seems so silly and fun – I really want to build around that for our next event. Getting him into the Field could be difficult, but that’s when Polymorph Mutation comes in handy. He seems like a fun casual character, but I don’t see him making any team in unlimited or Prime.

Slash is another of those Villains turned anti-hero later in the 2012 series. I kinda wish we had a version that wasn’t a Villain for that reason since they used the 2012 series art for the card. Don’t misunderstand me – I’m super excited to have Slash in our Dice Masters world. He’s a Bolt character with a purchase cost of five on all cards and each version has an ability that has something to do with ‘burn’ type ability damage. Specimen 6 deals damage equal to his attack to target opposing character die that isn’t blocking him. I like it, but I don’t love it. He won’t see unlimited play and I doubt he’d make a rogue status in Prime. Portal from Dimension X deals damage equal to his level to an opponent when he’s KO’d. You can pair that with Blue-Eyes or a Fabricate keyword to get some direct damage in to your opponent. It’s a relatively expensive way of burning your opponent and I don’t see it being used in unlimited or even Prime. Never Liked the Name “Spike” has a when KO’d ability as well. He deals damage to your opponent equal to the total amount energy in their Reserve Pool. I could see this being used in unlimited, if he didn’t cost five to purchase. I’m not sure how much Prime play he’ll see since there aren’t many effective or useful ways to KO your characters to get the most out of his ability. I like this version the best though, because I can easily use him in a casual setting and have fun with him.

Tiger Claw is a new character to the TMNT universe, as far as I can tell. This is also his Dice Masters debut. There are several other tiger/cat mutant like characters, but I think this specific character didn’t come around until the 2012 series. Tiger Claw is another one of those expensive Villain characters, but one of the abilities and the stats almost make me want to attempt to play this card. I feel like Lost Humanity is too expensive for his ability, and Kraang Experiment just doesn’t seem good to me. I don’t like KO’ing my opponent’s character dice like that because it gives them more dice to roll on their next turn. I don’t see either of those two versions making it into unlimited or Prime. Seeking Vengeance is the version that I like the best and I’m a sucker for pricey characters that I can’t play in unlimited. I love Cheetah: Cursed Archaeologist, and Seeking Vengeance’s ability and attack stats are double that of Cheetah’s. Unfortunately, his cost is double too. I don’t think this card has a place in the current unlimited meta and I’m not sure he’ll make it in Prime either. As for the casual scene, this guy looks like loads of fun for a Villain team!

Triceratons are a race of alien creatures that look like a triceratops-man thing. In almost all the TMNT universe canon, they’re strictly villains, which makes them Villains in Dice Masters! I welcome Triceraton to the Dice Masters universe! Triceraton is a Fist character with purchase costs of four and five. Cretaceous Crusher is the only four cost and he has no ability text. There are definitely cheaper Villains with better abilities for unlimited, and probably Prime too. But if you really need a four cost Villain with no ability, here he is! For limited play, he’s a great addition to a Villain team since he’s one of the cheapest. Orders from Captain Zorax gets a bonus of three to his attack, but only when he attacks. That would make his level one attack a total of six, and his level three attack a total of eight. That’s not too shabby. Loyal to a Fault has one of my favorite words as his keyword – Overcrush. I’d like to be able to buff his attack stat if I were to use this version, and there are definitely ways to do that. I think I like this dude better than the other two versions. For unlimited and Prime, I can’t see any Triceratons making the cut. For casual and limited, I think these guys are a great addition to Villains.

Character Thoughts

Renet Tilley is by far the most useful of all the characters in the box. Foot Ninjas and Karai are also good. Is the box worth purchasing for just those three characters? Maybe, depending on how bad you want or need those abilities. If you’re not excited yet, wait until you see the Basic Action Cards.

Basic Action Cards

The biggest selling point for this box set is probably the vast assortment of Basic Action Cards. Sure the characters fun and some are possible meta dudes, but with revamps of some major meta BACs in this box, I can’t think of a better argument to buy a box or two – that’s right, I said two.

Hello Anger Issues! I can’t tell you how happy I am to see a revamp of Anger Issues that will be legal for Prime. I have an attack buff and Overcrush all in one Action with Haymaker. This card is really high on my list of favorites for the BACs in this box. It’s a great card for all different formats from unlimited and Prime to casual and limited.

I did a quick search on DM RetroBox for a card that did something similar to this and I couldn’t find one. This ability seems really familiar to me but I can’t find where I’ve seen it. Ingenious Tactics is an interesting card. Using this action die will prevent all combat damage to each of your attacking character dice. I really like this BAC, but I’m not sure how I’m going to use it yet. It’s handy for keeping your dudes in the Field when your opponent’s blockers will likely get KO’d. I’ll be playing around with this to see if I can find a use for it, but the one major deterrent is the cost. If I’m paying five for an action, it better be AMAZING.

Everyone is going crazy over this BAC. I don’t think folks are going to realize how much of a risk it is to use it until they try it on a team. Everyone went crazy over Pizza! until they realized how much is clunked up their bag and wasn’t as useful as they thought. I don’t think this die is gonna clunk up your bag or slow you down, but the risk you run by using this on your team is that your opponent can nab all of them before you even have a turn. I really love the ability on this BAC, but if my opponent brings this and I go first, I’m stealing all the Momentum.

Welcome to Prime, Polymorph. This revamp made me happier than Haymaker. I’m a big Poly-Player so it’s safe to say that Poly is getting replaced with Mutation. I love Turtles, so if I can replace a card with a TMNT version, I’m so going to. I don’t think this card needs much of a review since it’s a major unlimited meta card. Now it gets a shot in Prime, which I imagine it will be on many teams out there.

Okay, several folks aren’t excited about this BAC, but I am. When a character is sacrificed, it doesn’t get KO’d, therefore it doesn’t gain the advantage of a When this character is KO’d ability. Mysterious Shredder Transport only costs three to purchase and has a great benefit. It’s a form of removal, which is not something we have a lot of in Prime. In an unlimited format, sacrificing characters could gum up someone’s bag or ruin someone’s plan. I really like this card and I’m totally gonna test it.

Nefarious Broadcast is another BAC that I think could be highly useful. It can clear buffs or other active effects that come from Global Abilities and stop Globals from being used for the rest of the turn. This hurts you too, but if you’re not relying on active Global effects or planning to use any Globals, then you have nothing to worry about. It only cost two to purchase, so it’s an easy turn one purchase on a bad roll. I imagine someone will find a way to work this onto a team in unlimited and I can see it being used in Prime – especially since there are buff Globals available in Prime. For casual and limited play, it could be useful but completely depends on the local meta.

Escape Incarceration, minus the Resistance, has found its way into Prime… wait – it’s already Prime-Legal. Reclaim does cost one less than Escape Incarceration, which could be what makes someone choose Reclaim over Escape Incarceration. Escape Incarceration didn’t take off in unlimited, and I don’t see Reclaim finding a foothold either. As far as the Prime format goes, it’s possible we could see Reclaim over Escape Incarceration. A really bad roll on turn one could leave you with only two energy instead of three – and the wrong energy type too. This wouldn’t be a bad backup option and may be more useful to you than Nefarious Broadcast. In a casual and limited atmosphere, this BAC is definitely one I’d recommend over Escape Incarceration. It’s simpler to use and cost one less to buy.

This is a revamp of Enrage from Uncanny X-Men. I can’t say that I’ve ever found a use for Enrage in an unlimited format where Invulnerability was available to me. There are plenty of taunt Globals out there, so the best thing about this BAC is the Global. This gives us a Bolt energy buff Global for Prime, which I don’t think we had. There are times where I’d rather have a Bolt buff than a Fist buff Global. It’s not a BAC that I’d toss to the side and forget about, but it’s not one that’s high on my list of BAC’s.

This BAC is a revamp of Transfer Power from Uncanny X-Men, and a combination of Monster Reborn‘s ability and the Global on Mystic Box from the Yu-Gi-Oh! set. Transfer Power is a very useful card in unlimited, and now we have a revamp of it for Prime. I imagine that Splinter’s Teachings will see lots of play in Prime. For casual and limited, this is an awesome card, and not just for it’s Global. Like its predecessor, it only cost three to purchase, making it a good buy on your first turn if you don’t get the right energy for your characters. I would definitely recommend this BAC for both the competitive formats as well as casual and limited play.

Here is my second favorite BAC in this box set, the Magic Missile revamp. I love Mutation, but Unstable Canister is a close second. The major difference between Unstable Canister and Magic Missile’s abilities are that Canister references a TMNT affiliated character and Magic Missile references an adventurer. This BAC will allow Batman Family Bat-Bomb to go off easier with a more reliable way to KO Alfred dice in the Prime format. It’s also great for Storm: Extra Lightning on a Prime team. For a casual or limited format, this is a great card. BACs that cost three or less are ones that I prefer.

BAC Overview

Wow! Talk about a loaded box! This box has all the major BAC abilities that anyoen could want! Oh, except for Big Entrance… I love that card almost as much as Polymorph. I would love to be able to use it in Prime. Here’s hoping it’ll see a revamp in the Superman/Wonder Woman starter. But really, you couldn’t ask for a better comprehensive assortment of BACs. Not only does this help new players that can’t afford all those different starters, but it helps other players that didn’t want to purchase D&D products. Good call, WizKids.

Action Reminder Cards

The four Action Reminder Cards are color coordinated with the four Turtles, which is a nice touch. It makes it easy for players to use their favorite color of the four, or play with their favorite Turtle’s color.

Paper Playmats

Just like the previous box set, the paper playmats’ artwork and color coordinate with the four Turtles. There are lots of reminders and tips on the playmats to help new players.

Dice Bags

The four dice bags are the normal paper bags that we’ve seen in the previous box set and other starters. The dice bags have artwork and colors that coordinate with the Turtles, just like the first box set. I love that they do that, making it easy for anyone to pick their favorite Turtle and represent them. #TeamDonnie Purple for me please!

Action Dice and Sidekick Dice

You’ll get enough Sidekick dice for four players as well as four different colors of Basic Action Dice. The Actions are color coordinated with the four Turtles, just like the bags and playmats.

As with the first box set, each of the Turtles have their very own dice designs. These are the dice for each of the four Turtles from the first box set.

These are the dice for the four Turtles from the new Heroes in a Half Shell box set.

I think I like the first set’s dice best, but images on the second set’s dice are cool too. They used silhouettes of the Turtles from the 2012 animated series.

Storage Box

The picture on the right shows the box with both sets of dice and cards, including both sets of Sidekicks and Basic Action Dice.

The first box set didn’t have the clear tray cover which caused lots of transporting issues. Dice would slide and bounce all over the box, and even jam themselves in such a way that the box lid would lift up and possibly spill the contents everywhere. I’m so happy that WizKids added the clear cover to this box. I can put all of my TMNT dice in this second box and not worry about the box lid coming off just because the box tilted or slid onto its side in the car.

Final Thoughts

There were major improvements from the first box set. I loved the first box, but I’m in love with this one. When a new player joins our group, this is going to be the very first product that I recommend for them to purchase – not just because I love TMNT so much, but because you can’t find a better assortment of vital and useful card abilities in any other Dice Masters starter or box set. If you’re new to Dice Masters or you’re trying to help a new player with recommendations, this is the product to look at. Many of these cards are great for casual and limited play, but also highly useful in the new PDC Prime format and even unlimited.

Aside from the obvious usefulness of many of the cards for unlimited and Prime, I love how the cards work so well together within the box too. A new player can combine both box sets for even more Turtle fun! These two boxes make for a great purchase for any Turtle fan that wants to play a game using their favorite TMNT characters but doesn’t want to jump all in to the larger world of Dice Masters.

WizKids has done some amazing things with the additions of the Box Sets, the yearly Starters, and the Team Packs. It makes the game more affordable for folks that also play other collectible games, therefore keeping those folks in the community. It also allows players like myself to expand into the other games that WizKids produces, like HeroClix, where I wasn’t able to before. I really feel like WizKids is on the right track, so long as they can better balance their release dates. That’s another growing pain that younger games experience and the balancing act will come with time. They’re just now introducing the yearly starters, so once they find the best form of product releases, the release date balancing should improve. I’m excited for what the future holds for Dice Masters. I hope that WizKids decides to branch out into other IPs and release them as all inclusive Box Sets.

What are your favorite cards?
What do you think of the Dice Building Game box?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

During the month of December, I’m featuring a different cold/ice/snow related card each week to celebrate the winter holidays. Today, we’re going to take a look at Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice from the DC World’s Finest set.

I’m also adding a new Prime Rating to each of my Confusing Card of the Week articles. They will follow the same rating system as the Unlimited Competitive Rating, since Prime is also a competitive format. You can find a breakdown of how I choose my ratings on my sticky article, Helpful Sites and About this Blog.

Ruling – Ability

Mr. Freeze has a While Active ability. While Active abilities will work regardless of how many of that character’s dice are active in the Field Zone. Think of this ability like a light – it’s either on or it’s off.

Mr. Freeze says that while he’s active, you may choose any die that’s in your opponent’s Prep Area and they can’t roll that die this turn. You must choose the die before your opponent’s Clear and Draw Step. If you forget or choose to not use the ability, you can’t backup once your opponent has begun their Clear and Draw Step because his ability is optional and not mandatory. It may be helpful to declare that you are intending to use Mr. Freeze’s ability when you end your turn so that your opponent doesn’t accidentally begin their Clear and Draw Step before you have a chance to choose a die.

Mr. Freeze’s ability does not specifically state what type of die to choose. This means that you are able to choose any type of die – character, action, or Sidekick die. Once you make your choice, your opponent should move that die away from any other dice in their Prep Area so it doesn’t get mixed in accidentally. Mr. Freeze’s ability does not state that you must choose a different die each turn, which means you can choose the same die again or choose a different one.

Miscellaneous Card Information

Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice is a Bolt Character and has the Villain affiliation. This card also has a Max Dice of four.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:Using Mr. Freeze’s ability on a character die.

~ I have two Mr. Freeze dice active in the Field Zone. My opponent has an Ultraman die and a Kryptonite die in their Prep Area.
~ (Clear and Draw) Before my opponent draws, I choose my opponent’s Ultraman die for Mr. Freeze’s ability.
~ (Clear and Draw) My opponent draws four dice from their bag.
~ (Roll and Reroll) My opponent rolls the four dice they drew plus the Kryptonite from their Prep Area. My opponent is not able to roll the Ultraman die this turn because of Mr. Freeze’s ability.

Example Two:Using Mr. Freeze’s ability on an action die.

~ I have two Mr. Freeze dice active in the Field Zone. My opponent has an Ultraman die and a Kryptonite die in their Prep Area.
~ (Clear and Draw) Before my opponent draws, I choose my opponent’s Kryptonite die for Mr. Freeze’s ability.
~ (Clear and Draw) My opponent draws four dice from their bag.
~ (Roll and Reroll) My opponent rolls the four dice they drew plus the Ultraman from their Prep Area. My opponent is not able to roll the Kryptonite die this turn because of Mr. Freeze’s ability.

Example Three:Using Mr. Freeze’s ability on a Sidekick die.

~ I have two Mr. Freeze dice active in the Field Zone. My opponent has a Sidekick die in their Prep Area.
~ (Clear and Draw) Before my opponent draws, I choose my opponent’s Sidekick die for Mr. Freeze’s ability.
~ (Clear and Draw) My opponent draws four dice from their bag.
~ (Roll and Reroll) My opponent rolls the four dice they drew but they can’t roll the Sidekick die from their Prep Area this turn because of Mr. Freeze’s ability.

Official Sources

Unlimited Competitive Play Rating

This card could be useful in an unlimited format, but the main drawback is his purchase cost. Most unlimited meta cards have a much more lethal or useful ability and they cost less to purchase than Mr. Freeze. There are also too many ways to blank his text and render him useless. In an unlimited meta, a useless character that costs you five energy to purchase is a huge waste of resources. If someone can build a team that uses Mr. Freeze as a major control piece, that would be pretty cool. But again, some of the best control cards cost four or less and have a much more devastating effect. His ability is definitely useful and could even cause someone to lose if they can’t get their main lethal piece into play. But getting Mr. Freeze into your dice rotation and then putting him the Field while having to keep him safe from blanking effects is a lot of work. There are better control pieces, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone found a way to use this card to their advantage.

Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice gets a Unlimited rating of two out of five stars.

Prime Play Rating

I feel like Mr. Freeze has more potential in the Prime format, even without some of the good cost reducers. There are still cheaper control pieces, but he adds another control option that may be more useful since Rip Hunter’s Chalkboard is possibly going to be a key meta card because of its Global. I think a player could possibly benefit from a card like Mr. Freeze much more in a Prime format. And while his ability is really good, his attack stats aren’t terrible – meaning he could possibly lend that additional pressure or even a lethal blow. I could definitely see him making a rogue team, and I would hope that he’s not overlooked by control players. He’s expensive in a format with little to no cost reduction, but the payoff could be bigger than expected. We haven’t seen a Prime meta yet, so there isn’t a definitive way to know if he’s going to be worth the effort yet. I still think he’s worth a few looks and at least a test play though.

Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice gets a Prime rating of three out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

Mr. Freeze’s ability is pretty clearly written and not too complicated, but some of the tricks to it might be lost on beginners. For instance, being able to name an action or Sidekick die may not be something that a beginner or newer player would think is a possibility. But a quick explanation could open a whole world of possibilities for a new player, which makes this card great for a player that understands the basic turn order. His ability is definitely unusual and fun to use, which is appealing to most newer players as well. He also helps teach patience and a bit of strategy because it’s not always best to attack with him if your opponent has dice in the Prep Area. I could easily recommend this card for any player of any skill level.

Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice gets a casual play rating of four out of five stars.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment! Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

This new set does not have a starter or collector’s box. It only has a gravity feed. There are new affiliations and new abilities that I will cover in this article. Here’s my review and pull list from the new Marvel Deadpool set!

I like having a checklist for all of my sets and unfortunately, there hasn’t been a checklist released online yet. You can find a complete card list on The Reserve Pool, here.

UPDATE! The official Checklist has been released! You can find it here.

Promo Card and Pack Insert

WizKids has offered a blank sketch card with their Gravity Feeds. The promo for this set is Deadpool: My Set. My Rules. I really like that they’re offering an incentive for sealed product purchases.

I’m really happy that WizKids decided to put this rules insert in the packs again instead of the WIN promotional card. The only major issue I have with the rules insert is that not all of the wording is consistent with the current wording on the WizKids Official Keywords page. You can find the insert online, here. Make sure to check the Official Keywords page to see the current and updated wording on Keyword Abilities.

Gravity Feed

Commons

We pulled 111 common cards; 9 of our commons were foil. We didn’t get any duplicate foil commons. I highlighted the ones we pulled foils of with red text, and the total includes the foil version.

Rares and Super Rares

You won’t get all the rares in one feed, but you get a good amount of them. We pulled 17 rares and none of them were duplicates; 5 of our rares were foil. We also pulled one Super Rare, which was foil.

New Ability Keywords

Back for More – When a die with Back for More begins the turn in your Prep Area, and is rolled during the Roll and Reroll Step, use its Back for More effect (this isn’t optional).

This wording is straight from the WizKids Official Keyword page. The text on the rules insert left out ‘begins the turn in your Prep Area‘ and had caused a great amount of confusion. Most of the players believed it was intended to work the way described on the Keywords page, and we’re all thankful that WizKids corrected this wording issue quickly!

Back for More triggers when you roll the die and not when you roll and reroll the die. If you compare the Back for More ability’s wording to the wording of a card like Static: Virgil Hawkins, it appears that Back for more would only trigger a single time for each die and not each time the die is rolled in a single Roll and Reroll Step. Parallax‘s Global does not have any effect on this ability since it only triggers during the Roll and Reroll Step.

*UPDATE*

I seem to be slightly outnumbered on the interpretation of how many times you can trigger Back for More during the Roll and Reroll Step. At any time you roll a Back for More die during the Roll and Reroll step, you must trigger the Back for More ability.

Example:

~ I have a Deadpool Affiliated character active, and three Dogpool dice in my Prep Area. I draw my four dice for the turn (four Sidekicks).~ (Roll and Reroll) I roll the four Sidekicks I drew, plus the three Dogpool dice. Each Dogpool’s Back for More ability triggers when I roll them.~ (Roll and Reroll) My Deadpool affiliated character gets +1A and +1D for each of the Dogpool dice I rolled, for a total of +3A and +3D.

Here is where the disagreement comes in.

What I think happens:~ (Roll and Reroll) I decide to reroll my three Dogpool dice. Back for More does not trigger again, because they have each triggered that ability for the turn.

What the slight majority thinks happens:~ (Roll and Reroll) I decide to reroll my three Dogpool dice. Back for More triggers on each die a second time, giving my Deadpool affiliated character an additional +1A and +1D each, for a total of +6A and +6D (counting the bonus from the first roll).

My Reasoning

If you treat Back for More like a When Fielded or When Attacks ability, which it has similar wording to, then you only get to activate it once per die. You do not have a second Roll and Reroll Step in order to trigger it an additional time.

The Majority’s Reasoning

These players that believe you are able to trigger it multiple times have been using the Manticore’s ruling as a basis for their belief in how many times this ability triggers for each die with the ability in a single Roll and Reroll Step.

There has already been much debate about this ability in my local scene and I’ve gone over every bit of information and looked at the wording. Personally, and for my local events, I will not be going along with the majority. I do see both sides to this discussion, but since there is an actual debate and a divide over how this ability functions, I will invoke the Judge Guidance on this and go with the weaker interpretation until WizKids responds either on WORF or by some other means.

******

Deadly – Character dice that are engaged with a character die that has Deadly are KO’d at the end of the turn (even if the character with Deadly has been KO’d or leaves the Field Zone).

I love this ability! All you need to do with a Deadly character is declare it as a blocker or have it blocked and it becomes ‘engaged’ with the defending character. It’s as simple as that. Just imagine, forcing a nasty character to block with a Global like Wasp: Fashionista, attacking with a Deadly character, then Blink/Distraction Global your attacker back. The blocker would be KO’d because it had been engaged with the Deadly character, but your character would remain unharmed. Such a great ability! This is exactly what we needed to combat against Hulk: Green Goliath or other characters that can be a nuisance when dealt damage. Deadly doesn’t need to do damage the character, they just need to have been engaged.

Returning Keywords

New Affiliations

There are several returning affiliations, like Villains and X-Men, but these are brand new affiliations!

Deadpool

Inhumans

Favorites

Here are several of my favorite cards from my Gravity Feed. I wish I could show all the cards I got, but until I get a scanner, I can only do a few favorites.

Domino: Neena Thurman (left) – Anytime I can get some rerolls for free, I’m happy! I like her ability, but I also like her fielding costs (TFC 2) and her attack stats. Her purchase cost is only three and she would make a great aggressive character by making her unblockable or giving her Overcrush. I really do like this character and even though her defense isn’t great, I think she’ll make a great character for a casual Overcrush team.

Lady Bullseye: Attack on Two Fronts(center) – Lady Bullseye has the potential be a very lethal character. Her ability does not say that she must be the source of damage nor does it specify that it must be a specific kind of damage. You could field her and then Magic Missile a character for two damage instead of one – for a single Bolt energy. You can force a character to block and then attack with her to do a minimum of six damage to the blocker. With such a low defense, you can almost guarantee that a blocker will KO her so you could possibly get to use her ability all over again on your next turn. Her purchase cost of three and a TFC of two is amazing in itself, and when you consider that with her ability, I think she could possibly find her way onto a competitive team somewhere.

Lockjaw: Fiercely Loyal (right) – This card can be extremely powerful. His text says: “While Lockjaw is active, before your opponent’s Clear and Draw Step, name a non-Sidekick die. If your opponent draws that die, deal 2 damage to all of that opponent’s character dice and each of your Lockjaw dice get +2A.” If I name Deadpool, and my opponent draws at least one Deadpool die during their Clear and Draw Step, Lockjaw deals two damage to all their character dice and all of my Lockjaw dice get +2A. That’s how I interpret his ability to work which is pretty powerful. He’s got a near perfect TFC of one and his defense stats aren’t bad. I could see him being played quite a bit in casual play, and maybe squeaking onto a rogue competitive team.

Madame Hydra: Viper (left) – There aren’t many card abilities in the game that move dice out of an opponent’s Prep Area. I like this ability because it can mess up your opponent’s bag flow a little bit which could be all you need to help you make a comeback or pull ahead in a game. Her purchase cost, fielding costs, and attack stats are decent. But for her ability to be effective, she needs to damage an opponent. That would most likely require the use of another card, like Silver Sable: Hero for Hire or Stealth Ops to help her get damage in to your opponent. You could give her Overcrush, but with an attack of 2/3/4, you’d need her on level two or three or use an ability to boost her attack to make it worthwhile. I really like this ability, but I feel like she needs a team that’s partially built around her.

Medusa: Tangled Up (center) – Oh my, how I love this card! Not only is Medusa’s die pretty, but her art is gorgeous too. She’s got Deadly, which seems fitting, and she has an additional ability that allows her to block up to two character dice. If you know anything about the comic character, you’ll agree that this ability seems perfect for her. When you look at her for a team, she’s an awesome blocker. If your opponent doesn’t want their attackers KO’d, they are not going to attack while Medusa is in your Field. She only cost four energy to purchase and she’s a Mask character. She’s got a TFC of four, so once you get her active, you probably won’t want to have to field her again. He lowest defense is four which is really good for a defensive character. She doesn’t necessarily need a high attack stat, but her attack isn’t bad with it being a 2/3/4. She will most likely see casual play and possibly be a consideration for a few competitive teams, though I don’t think she’ll make the big lists.

Free Chimichangas: Aged to Perfection (right) – If something that only costs three energy could possibly give one of my characters Deadly and +2D, I’m totally down to try it on a team! Not only is the ability pretty good, but it’s chimichangas… that are free… and age to perfection. But seriously, adding this to a team with the common Domino, seems like a fun team. If you like to use PXG, this die is a win-win since it’s a Mask die. The defense boost could keep her alive if she’s blocked while attacking, and it gives her Deadly so anyone that’s engaged with her will get KO’d. I think that’s the part I like best. I’d totally pay three energy for a die that could give any of my characters the Deadly ability. The boost to defense is just cheese on the chimichanga.

Medusa: Bad Hair Day (left) – Here she is again – Medusa with her Deadly ability. But this Medusa has a different ability from her common counterpart. When she KO’s a character die with combat damage, you can send it to the Used Pile instead of the Prep Area. It’s that extra little jab – not only did she knock out the character, but they don’t get to reroll it next turn. Her attack stats aren’t bad but if you needed a higher attack, you could easily use Ant-Man: Pym Particles Global to fix that. Just to make sure this is clear – Deadly does not work for her other ability. She would need to deal damage with her attack in order for you to gain the benefits of her second ability. I think she’ll possibly see lots of casual play, but again, she falls just short of competitive play. Part of the reason is her purchase cost of five. I still really like her ability and it looks like it could be fun to play around with.

Mister Sinister: Gene Splicer(center) – The one thing that I don’t like about this card is that he cost six to purchase. His TFC of five is kinda high, but once you field him, you will do what you can to keep him there. I just really like his ability to force your opponents into choosing to pay life for a reroll, or just to deal with the initial roll results. I don’t see this guy making competitive play, or even much in the way of casual play. I just wanted to feature him for his ability.

Negasonic Teenage Warhead: Bored in School (right) – This character is probably the only character with an Underdog ability that I actually like. I’ve played around with Underdog and I have had a hard time trying to get it to work for me. But Negasonic Teenage Warhead’s ability seems like it’s totally worth the work. If you have less characters in the Field when she attacks, she gets to spin up to level three and she gains Fast. That’s so good! She only cost three to purchase, her TFC is two, and her attack on level three is six! You pair her with Overcrush and she’s a force to be reckoned with! To help yourself achieve Underdog, you can use Blue-Eyes Global or Fabricate to reduce the number of your characters in the Field Zone. I can’t wait to give this character a go in our casual scene. Not sure she’ll see competitive play, but I bet she’ll be super fun to play around with in casual play.

Agent Carter: Answered the Call (left) – This is a card that could see a decent amount of competitive play. She only cost two to purchase, has a TFC of one, and also has a decent defense. Her ability is pretty good for both competitive and casual play. Adding onto the fielding cost of Sidekicks could definitely throw a wrench into someone’s plans. She wouldn’t affect Ally dice though, since they wouldn’t be considered a Sidekick until after they enter the Field Zone, and by then you’ve already paid their fielding cost. I still think she’s an excellent card and I would not be surprised to see her on competitive and casual teams.

Medusa: Queen of Attilan(center) – It’s not often that all three versions of a card make it into my favorites, but Medusa did. Again, she has Deadly and another ability. Her second ability works only with combat damage, like her uncommon version. But if she KO’s an opposing character die with combat damage, you gain one life. Life gain is not a big deal right now, but every point of life counts! Her purchase cost could prevent her from seeing the competitive scene, but she could be the most desired version for casual play. If I had to choose one right now to try, I would definitely take the rare. You can always force characters to attack or block and then use her to counter that character. You can boost her attack or even swap it with her defense to help KO a character. She has great potential and I’d love to see her make it out of casual play and into the competitive arena.

Miguel O’Hara: Lyrate Lifeform Approximation (right) – I began collecting comics with Spider-Man. Later, I branched out into the other Spider-Comics like Spider-Man 2099, which is Miguel O’Hara. I’m not disappointed with this version of Miguel O’Hara. His Back for More ability is a nice paper cut, but his purchase cost of four and Fast ability is what I really like. I do not like expensive Fast characters, because they don’t seem ‘fast’ to me. I like his attack stats, but I’m not a fan of his level three fielding cost. I’d probably reroll a level three Miguel O’Hara if I wasn’t in dire need of a character for that turn. His level one and level two stats are just fine though. I’m thrilled that he has the Spider-Friends affiliation, because I feel like I can possibly build a decent casual Spider-Friends team now! I really love his die too. It’s one that you need to see in person – pictures would not do it justice.

Final Thoughts

Normally I have several dice that I like to showcase because they’re really pretty or really nice looking. I wasn’t overly impressed with the dice in this set. Miguel O’Hara and Medusa are cool, and Lady Deadpool is neat, but not ones I feel the need to show. I would actually put up a picture of Miguel O’Hara’s die, but none of the pictures I’ve tried do his die justice. There are dice of all kinds in this set from plain opaque ones to sparkly glittery and two toned colors.

Every card in this set has a foil version, just like the Green Arrow and The Flash set. It’s safe to assume that all the Super Rares are foil only, just like GATF. I would hate to have to chase regular and foil Super Rare cards. Like the previous set, the foils have a watermark in the shape of their die symbol in their text box.

From all the cards I pulled in my feed and from other reports I’ve heard, there is only one card with a Global Ability in the entire set. I’m totally okay with this! Lots of the previous sets are loaded with Globals and having a set that’s light in Globals in kind of refreshing. This should be a fantastic slugfest of a draft set! I can’t wait to draft on Saturday, and I have no clue what two Basic Actions to bring.

What are some of your favorite cards in the set?
How do you think the meta will shift, if at all?
What cards are you excited to try in a casual setting?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

I finally got my two Doctor Strange Team Packs today! While I’m super excited because Doctor Strange is a favorite character of mine, I’ve got to be completely honest. I don’t think many of these cards are going to make it into the major meta, but the Team Pack is absolutely worth purchasing for casual and local play. There are a few cards that definitely make this a worthwhile purchase, and a couple that could possibly see competitive play.

New Ability Keywords

This Team Pack doesn’t bring any new Keywords to the game. I think that’s a great move as these Team Packs are meant to be added to Starters or small collections to help boost existing cards and teams.

New Affiliations

Mystics

This affiliation was introduced in the DC Green Arrow and The Flash set. It was not identified on the rules insert in the packs and there wasn’t an insert in the Doctor Strange Team Pack. I reached out to WizKids on Twitter and they responded in a very timely manner. A huge thanks to WizKids for the response – it’s super appreciated! This is an official confirmation for the Mystics affiliation.

Cards

All of the Ancient One’s cards do something in regards to other Mystics, whether it’s your opponent’s or your own. Of the three, The Original Sorcerer Supreme is the best of them. He’s still really pricey, but his ability is good if you’re running primarily Mystics. I love cost reducers, but Vapors of Valtorr costs way too much for what he does. Wise Master is only going to be good if you’re playing in a limited type event and you know you may see Mystics on your opponent’s team.

I’m not impressed with any of Clea’s cards. Her cost in relation to abilities is way too high. The only one that seems partially playable is the Flames of Regency with the Synergy-type ability to deal damage to a target non-Mystics character die. Faltine Blood costs too much for a cost reducer – and her cost reduction is for fielding, not for purchasing. Dark Sorceress is very expensive to purchase, but that’s not the main reason I don’t care for her. Her ability is a When Fielded ability, and her fielding costs are fairly pricey. If she had a purchase cost of five with those fielding costs, I would like her more.

As much as I love Doctor Strange, I’m not loving his cards so much. Again… all the six and seven cost characters… He’s got great stats and okay fielding costs, but for what it costs to purchase one of his dice, his abilities are a little lacking. Sanctum Santorum and Wand of Watoomb are the two that I like the most, and both have abilities that work with Basic and Non-Basic Action Dice. Hoary Host of Hoggoth would be great against Ring teams, but you would need to purchase him and field him before the Ring team gets set up. Hoary Host of Hoggoth is good against Actions like Power Bolt, but he wouldn’t work well against most Vicious Struggle teams that use Luke Cage’s Global. And Mr. Evan pointed out that my previous statement in regards to Ring teams is not correct. I sometimes forget that Ring grants the ability to the characters and is not coming directly from the Action Die itself. Thank you for pointing out the error!

The Dread One’s ability is okay, but not one I’m crazy about. Dark Lord of Chaos has a great ability, but by the time you’re able to buy any one of their dice and then get him fielded, your opponent will likely have purchased all the Action Dice they want. Burning Ambition is my favorite of the three Dormammu, but he won’t work well against Lantern Ring and he doesn’t do anything against Vicious Struggle teams since they don’t typically field characters. He would work against Bard teams that use Cloudkill, but you’d need to get him bought and in the Field Zone before they were able to buy Cloudkill and set up.

I was so happy to see something with a purchase cost less than six! I actually like all the variety this Non-Basic Action gives you. The ones with the Global scare me a little with Vicious Struggle being such a big thing, but they would be fun and interesting in a casual setting. The All-Seeing is definitely my favorite because with the help of Rip Hunter’s Chalkboard, you could potentially be able to add that tax to your opponent’s Basic Action purchases on turn two. Mystical Conduit is interesting to use against teams that use Basic Actions a lot; Power Bolt, Big Entrance, Nasty Plot, etc. Reside Within the Amulet is one you would put on one of your Basic Actions that you know you’ll use a lot. I could see it used to great effect with Hulk Out.

There isn’t a Mindless Ones that I don’t like. I don’t like Vicious Struggle, but we do have a player that plays a variant build without Kobolds. I could totally see her using Dark Dimension along with her Rocket Raccoon from Civil War. Stare Into Your Soul has Regenerate, which isn’t bad for his purchase and fielding costs. He makes for a great blocker or could work well with Eye of Agomotto and Hulk Out. Unseeing Gaze has Swarm and my locals know how much I love Swarm, but I can’t see myself using this card over Goblin. If we were using only Marvel characters, I would probably go for this guy first as an alternate way to ramp dice.

I love Scarlet Witch’s die and I like all of her versions. Witchy Woman is great for just about any casual Vicious Struggle team (is that a thing?? I guess it is… kinda… but I wouldn’t encourage it). I don’t encourage casual VS teams, but if you really want to do one, leave out the Kobolds and Luke Cage and go for Mindless Ones and Scarlet Witch. Hex Bolts is great for any Action Die centered team. As long as you have that one energy to pay, you get to put that used Action Die in your Prep Area! Chaos Magic is fun too and she does something that not a lot of cards in the game do – gain life. She’s also centered around Action Dice, and every version of Scarlet Witch says Action Die, so she covers both Basic and Non-Basic Action Dice.

Oh my… Wong could possibly see some play outside of casual events. All of Wong’s cards have the Ally keyword, meaning they count as Sidekick dice while in the Field Zone. He’s got decent stats, great fielding costs, and the most expensive of the purchase costs is three. Expert of Kamar-Taj also has Fast which allows him to deal his combat damage first. Dedicated to the Ancient One has this interesting direct damage ability that you can use when he’s fielded. Faithful Servant has a static effect that buffs all other Sidekick dice while he’s active. Those Flying Ninjas might get a little bigger now.

Dice

I wasn’t super impressed by any of the dice, except for Scarlet Witch’s.

Dormammu and Wong are standard opaque. Ancient One is mostly opaque, but the edges allow some light to pass through which is probably just due to thickness and color choice. Eye of Agamotto is standard translucent. Doctor Strange, Clea, and Mindless Ones have the shimmering swirl look. Scarlet Witch is definitely the best looking dice from this set, at least in my opinion. Her dice have the multi-color swirl, but the purple hue is so light that it’s hard to see in the picture. The dice are really pretty in person.

Final Thoughts

Going through the first half of the characters, I was not very excited. But when I started to reach the less expensive characters, I was much happier. In a competitive meta like our current one, those higher cost characters will probably not see competitive play. They would need to have amazing abilities to make them worth their purchase, like Hulk, Green Goliath. But the less expensive characters could squeak onto a team as rogue cards. I do like the variety of cards and abilities in the Team Pack and I think it’s a great item to add to a Starter. This Team Pack definitely has some good cards for newer players and some great cards for local metas that don’t see some of the more aggressive team builds. I think it’s worth having this Team Pack in your collection for any future changes that could spring up in the major competitive meta.

I purchased two of the Team Packs so I would have max dice for each character. I messaged WizKids with several interview style questions and one of them was about the dice in this Team Pack. I asked if these particular dice would surface in a future Marvel set, but I have not heard back from them yet. I suspect that the dice will only be available in these Team Packs, so I would suggest buying two if you plan to use the max number of dice for a particular character.

I totally love the Team Pack idea. I’ve done something similar for my players that are not fortunate enough to be able to purchase a starter or additional product to upgrade their teams. I’ve made Guardians of Galaxy and Batman team bags with commons and uncommons as well as max dice for each character. The player can then look through the characters and pick the ones they like and adjust the dice as they wish. The only suggestion I have to improve the Team Packs is to give max dice for each character, even if they reduce the total number of characters by two or three. I’d rather have five or six characters with max dice than eight characters with half their max dice. But overall, I would absolutely recommend the Doctor Strange Team Pack for any casual player that’s looking for something new and different to add to their team.

What are some of your favorite cards in the set?
How do you think the meta will shift, if at all?
What cards are you excited to try in a casual setting?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

Sorry for the tardiness of this article, but I didn’t think folks would be as interested in the restricted formats. I was wrong! I had a few folks asking when I was going to publish the report for this event and when I told them that I hadn’t planned on reporting the restricted type events, they expressed how interested they were in all the event reports. So here it is! Apologies, again!

My Team

I really like my Justice League team and so I decided to make a few adjustments to it and play it for our DC Only Event.

I had to replace Professor X, Blue-Eyes, and Polymorph since they are not in the DC Universe. I knew I’d need a replacement for PXG, and since DC doesn’t really have a good PXG equivalent, I decided to play the lottery with Parallax, Source of Terror. I added Bane, Professional Criminal in the place of Blue-Eyes because I knew I would want to KO my Zatanna dice, and the best way I knew to make that happen was to block with her. Bane’s Global allows me to control some of the Field as well by making problem characters attack and not blocking them so that they go to the Used Pile. I chose to replace Polymorph with Anger Issues to help my Martian Manhunter get a few extra points of damage in, or to possibly add to a blocker’s attack to help KO an attacker. I really like Shazam!, but he’s way to expensive for a limited format like this. I decided to cut him from the team in favor of a cheaper Justice League affiliated character, Wonder Woman, Trinity War.

This team is very straight forward: Get Martian Manhunter out and attack often while maintaining a small blocking force with Zatanna, Aquaman, and Green Lantern if I can buy him.

Round One

My first round opponent brought one of my biggest threats – Guy Gardner. He can be a serious problem if he kicks off early. I played as smart as I could by buying Aquaman and Zatanna dice as early as possible. This helped soften up my opponent because of Aquaman’s Retaliation. I was able to buy two Martian Manhunter dice and get them cycling quickly by leaving as many Sidekick dice in the Field Zone as I could. My opponent’s Oracle was a minor annoyance, but Bane helped clear her from the Field Zone when I needed her gone. Martian Manhunter’s Overcrush paired with the attack boost on Anger Issues helped me win my first round.

Record after Round One: 1-0-0

Round Two

Round two brought my rival (and husband) to the battlefield. I had prior knowledge that he was playing Teen Titans so I knew I had my work cut out for me. I managed to buy an Aquaman, two Zatanna dice, and a Martian Manhunter before his Teen Titans obliterated me. Teen Titans are not only good in drafts, they can be a beast to deal with in limited constructed formats as well. I was able to get some damage in before my demise and I played the best I could, but Teen Titans are really strong and have a great synergy.

Record after Round Two: 1-1-0

Round Three

I got to play against this really fun Villain team in round three. The direct damage abilities on these cards are overwhelming while all of them are in the Field Zone. We both had bad luck with our rolls, but I was able to manage them a little more effectively and pull ahead of my opponent. He tried to recover, but his Blue Beetle dice refused to roll a character side for him. I tried to avoid KO’ing any Villains while his Black Manta was active so that I could avoid taking unnecessary damage from his Retaliation. Black Manta’s Retaliation is much worse than Aquaman’s, but my Aquaman was able to soften up my opponent for Martian Manhunter’s attacks. I was able to defeat my opponent before he was able to get Joker or Scarecrow.

Record after Round Three: 2-1-0Final Standing: 2nd

Final Thoughts

I had a hard time deciding between Justice League and Teen Titans. I’ve never built a Teen Titans team because my husband plays Teen Titans. But I decided to go with my altered Justice League team for this event. I’m glad I did now because I realized that Wonder Woman, Trinity War would go great on my Ghandi team. I did very well in this event with my JL team and I’m really happy I decided to play it instead of building Teen Titans. I had lots of fun in this event!

What are some changes you’d make without changing the spirit of the team?Have a build you like better?
Leave me a comment here or on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Roll on, Dice Masters!

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